


Lingering Darkness and the Reluctant Fighter

by donutsweeper



Category: Midnight Texas (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Repercussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-01-28 02:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12596196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: Manfred was coming apart at the seams and somehow Olivia was the only one who noticed.





	Lingering Darkness and the Reluctant Fighter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chosenfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chosenfire/gifts).



Olivia would never have thought she'd be the one to realize there was something wrong with Manfred before anyone else did. Surely Creek should have been the one to notice when her boyfriend started coming apart at the seams? Or Fiji, who was a healer, not to mention the nurturing sort; shouldn't she have seen the signs? Or the Rev? Or, _hell_ , anyone but her? But, no, here she was, watching Manfred crumble into pieces in front of her and no one else seemed to suspect a thing.

He was good at hiding it, of course. He'd been a con man and a grifter, getting people to see what he wanted them to see was his stock and trade. But still, if the bags under his eyes got much worse you'd be able to see them from space and there was that way he held himself when he thought no one was looking- with his shoulders hunched and jaw clenched and just, in general, so brittle? Those were all signs of a person who was near their breaking point; she should know, she'd been there herself once upon a time. 

Knowing was one thing, figuring out what to do about it was another matter entirely.

Should she mention it to Creek? Creek had bounced back from having the very foundation of her world rocked and she genuinely seemed to care for Manfred, but she still seemed pretty raw and Olivia wasn't really sure how stable this thing between the two of them really was and she certainly didn't want to be the reason behind it crashing spectacularly. 

Bringing it up with the Rev just seemed wrong somehow, like she'd be telling tales out of turn. And as for Fiji? Well, Fiji had enough of her own shit to be dealing with, Olivia hated the thought of added to it. It didn't seem right to go to Bobo, Chuy or Joe either. That left Lem.

Talking to Lem might not be a bad idea, she supposed. After all, Lem had been the first Midnighter to really take to Manfred. Although, in hindsight, Olivia knew that had more to do with the debt he felt he owed Xylda than anything else. However, while it was definitely one hell of a debt, Manfred wasn't his grandmother and he wasn't the type to accept help borne from a sense of obligation, especially when he'd consider it unearned and therefore undeserved. Of course if she somehow got Manfred to ask Lem for help on his own…. Well, that would be different then, wouldn't it? The question then, was how?

"Manfred, what the hell am I going to do with you?" she muttered when she spotted him standing in the street, staring off at nothing, for probably the fourth time in as many days.

"A scratch behind the ears or a nice snack is usually what works for me," a voice at her feet stated blandly, startling her for a moment. She still wasn't used to the idea that a cat could talk. "But then again," Mr Snuggly continued, "I reckon I'm a little different than most."

"More than a little," she replied, because, why not. Conversations with cats were now apparently a thing and if he was going to be snarky to her she was going to razz him right back. Of course, he didn't deign to respond to her, just huffed in her general direction before sauntering off, his head and tail held high. Whatever. Once he was gone she approached Manfred, opening with a blunt, "You look like shit." In her opinion it was always better to be straight with someone rather than beat around the bush.

"Thanks." He glanced at her briefly before he went back to staring at whatever he was staring at.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment."

"I know." 

The street didn't look like anything other than a street to her, but considering they were right in front of the spot that had been used by that faceless creep for the sacrifice to Colconnar, she wouldn't be surprised if someone as open to spirits as Manfred was might see something different than she did. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no."

Yeah, she hadn't thought he would. "How about a drink then?"

He actually smiled at that. "Now you're talking."

Instead of taking him to Home Cookin' she led him over to her and Lem's place. 

"But the sun's still out," Manfred said as he trudged down the hall behind Olivia. "Won't we wake Lem?"

She shrugged and pulled out her keys. "It's nearly dinner time, he should be up by now so if he's not the fact we woke him will be his own fault."

"If you're sure. I don't want to intrude."

"You're not." Lem must have heard them coming because he not only opened the door before she could even insert the key, but he'd even had time to get dressed. Pity, although not unexpected since they had company. "Hello, Manfred."

"Lem. Sorry about invading your place like this, Olivia sort of ambushed me. Figuratively, this time," he clarified.

Lem smiled. "She has a tendency to do that, both figuratively and literally, particularly when she feels she has a valid reason to do so. Does she have a reason?"

Manfred's eyes darted between Lem and her and for a moment she was sure he was going to brush her concerns aside and try to lie his way out of the situation, but instead he just sighed the bone-weary sigh of a person who had just about all the could take and couldn't hide it anymore. It was a sigh she recognized, having given it herself on more than one occasion. "She might have said something about me not looking so good." 

"I _said_ you look like shit. Which you do. When's the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

"I sleep." Olivia glared at his attempt at evasion and he shrugged. "Even with the veil closed, sealed, whatever… Midnight's kind of loud."

"Are you sure it is the voices out there," Lem said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the street, "rather than the ones in here," he pointed at Manfred's head, "that are the problem?"

"It's nothing I can't handle."

"Yeah, but there's nothing that says you have to handle it on your own," Olivia said, pulling two beers out and handing Manfred one.

"You suggesting trying to solve my problems with beer or other drugs?" Manfred shook his head as he popped off the cap and took a long swig. "I've been down that road before. Recently, even. It doesn't tend to end all that well."

"I don't believe Olivia was suggesting chemical aids for your problem." 

"I wasn't. You need to sleep. Lem and I can help you with that."

"No offense or anything, but I'm not into threesomes."

"Which is good since I don't share," Olivia said blandly, accessing him and deciding she was right. For people who'd been through enough shit, people like Manfred and like her, trying to relax enough to sleep, truly sleep, was hard. She never had to worry about hurting Lem if she reacted unconsciously and lashed out, but he had Creek and she was a different story. "But, what I was thinking though, is that it's hard to sleep when you can't stop worrying about what you might do to the person next to you." 

"I'd _never_ hurt Creek."

"No, you never would," Lem soothed, but he obviously saw the same thing in Manfred that she did, because he continued, "Not intentionally. Not consciously. But if you let yourself relax enough to fall asleep, deeply asleep, what then?"

Manfred's half shrug to that was answer enough.

Olivia was about to ask why he didn't try sleeping while Creek was at work, but then she realized she had a pretty good guess about that as well. "Of course, sleeping by yourself has its own problems too, doesn't it? It's hard to relax when you feel like you need to keep your guard up." She looked at Lem and raised an eyebrow, tilting her head ever so slightly toward the bedroom.

Lem figured out what she was asking and nodded ever so slightly before turning to Manfred. "If I'm not mistaken, Creek is scheduled to work a double today. You could rest here."

"What? No." Manfred gulped his beer, stumbling over his words. "No, that's… that's ridiculous. No. I mean. No, I couldn't." 

"Thanks to our recent remodeling no one is getting in this place unless we want them too. No one. And, I'm sorry to tell you, Manfred, but when it comes to me and Lem? Unless you decide to let yourself be taken over by another half dozen or so demons you really don't have a chance against us."

"Not at all." Lem smiled widely, showing off his teeth.

"It's okay to lean on others sometimes, Manfred," Olivia added when she saw him wavering. "Midnight taught me that."

Manfred sighed and Olivia could tell the moment he gave in, not that she ever really doubted he would. "I don't want to impose."

Plucking the nearly empty beer bottle out of Manfred's hand before grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet, Lem said, "You're not. We wouldn't have suggested it if the offer wasn't genuine. Now come on, let's find you something to change into."

It seemed like only a few minutes later before Lem was back, wrapping his arms around Olivia's waist. "That was fast," she said, leaning into his embrace.

"He was asleep practically the moment his head hit the pillow. I thought I might have to drain him first but," Lem shook his head, "he was so exhausted, so worn. You were right to bring him here."

"I might have taken some time to accept him, but he's one of us now and Midnight takes care of its own."

"It does indeed."


End file.
